We are in Paris this week. My husband has business and since I’d been not-so-secretly wishing to come back here, Ada and I are traveling with him.

I’ve been surprised at the trepidation I felt as this trip approached. My first time in Paris with a child. My first time in Paris with food restrictions. (No baguettes! No croissants! No stinky cheese!) And because this is technically a work trip, we’re staying in a lovely hotel with no kitchenette, in an area I wouldn’t have chosen to stay in and have no familiarity with.

In the packing and prepping, dealing with a miserable summer cold, I could feel myself tightening up. At one point on the plane as we watched a couple with a screaming child have words with the people in the seats ahead of them I said quietly to Steve, “People are often not at their best when they travel.”  Later I realized I was referring to myself too.

We’ve had lots of little things go awry. Nothing major and nothing worth getting upset over, but again I could feel myself tighten, wishing for it all to be easier.

As we wandered in the rain near our hotel yesterday, still jet lagged and in search of something Ada and I could eat for dinner, I stopped and looked up. The architecture around me was not at all what I think of when I conjure Paris in my mind but it was beautiful in its funky modernity. I stopped to take a picture and found myself relaxing, opening, enjoying myself just a little more.

I know this will be a wonderful trip. I’m excited to see one of my favorite cities through my daughter’s eyes. And I’m entering this next week with one intention, one simple thought:

Open eyes. Open heart.

Even writing it here makes me feel better, lighter.

Will you join me?

Open eyes. Open heart.

What do you see?